Buy-A-Bride: Still Not An Esoteric Concept

A recent time.com article highlights the unsettling matchmaking services of Southeast Asia. It’s a little different than the Million Matchmaker, or whatever that reality show is. Instead, Taiwanese bachelors are presented with around 100 Vietnamese young women, who are seated in a room, 12 at a time, and eye-balled. They are taken on the spot. The price tags range from $1,000 to $8,000, much of which goes directly to the bride-to-be’s parents.

What follows is predictable: marriages made of fear, poor living conditions, virtual slavery. As a backlash to the matchmaking agencies, which tout “Vietnamese make ideal wives: pretty, tidy housekeepers, obedient” in recent ads, Taiwanese government now requires the more than 500 companies to adhere to strict regulations and operate as non-profit organizations. I suppose it’s a start?!?